Varun Aaron

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Twelve months ago it was the Ashes and now this year the schedule has thrown up another fascinating battle down under with India this time the visitors.

Much of the talk leading up to the 1st Test in Melbourne has been the woes of Australia's batting line-up, which saw them skittled for 47 in Cape Town and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against New Zealand in Hobart.

But another way of looking at it is but for these inexplicable collapses, Australia would have registered 2-0 series wins in South Africa and at home to the Black Caps, which would have been mighty impressive results and would have followed on from the series win in Sri Lanka.

Those three contests have been the first under Michael Clarke and we have been mightily impressed with his skilful, thoughtful and adventurous captaincy. He certainly looks an improvement on Ricky Ponting as skipper.

What about India? Their batting line-up with a man as talented as Virat Kohli at six and Rohit Sharma not even able to get into the XI looks immense, but so it did in England when Rahul Dravid apart they struggled in seaming and swinging conditions against a strong England attack.

Australia's bowling attack is not as good as England's but James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon have made promising starts to their international careers, Peter Siddle seems to relish being the senior member of the attack and Ben Hilfenhaus is reportedly back to his best after disappointing in the Ashes last winter. Then there is the teenage sensation pat Cummins to come back in once he is fit.

India's hopes with the ball rely heavily on the fitness of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. Both are struggling with ankle problems and it is hard to see an attack shorn of either or both being able to take 20 wickets. Umesh Yadav looks a good prospect as does Varun Aaron, but asking them to lead the attack at this stage of their careers would be risky to say the least.

So Australia's brittle batting line-up could be set to get some respite and with the selectors picking an opener in Ed Cowan who can actually bat against the moving ball, also recalling the resolute Shaun Marsh and with Shane Watson in reserve from the 2nd Test onwards, it looks set to be a fascinating contest.

So who will win? On paper it looks too close to call. India have drawn their two previous series in Australia and the easiest option here would be to predict another spare of the spoils. But we've got an inkling that Australia will prove the fittest and hungriest side and with Adelaide likely to see a draw, we go for the home side to win the series 2-1. But we've been wrong before...

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

But for naivety and the compusure of last wicket pair Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, West Indies would have accomplished in one game what England couldn't manage in five by beating the World Champions in their own backyard.

The catalyst for India's triumph was the increasingly impressive Rohit Sharma, who skilfully anchored what had appeared to be a forlorn chase with 72 before he fell with just 11 runs required.

For a while it seemed that Sharma, famously dubbed Nohit by his detractors, was going to be a talent unfulfilled. A lack of consistency, a seeming love of the celebrity afforded by the IPL and perhaps a touch too much arrogance all contributed to the man who Shane Warne described as having "all the talent in the world" to be left on the fringes of the Indian side.

But a pair of hundreds in an obscure one-day tournament in Zimbabwe in 2010 hinted that there was some substance to go with the style and his first-class average of 63 tells you that there is talent in abundance.

Although he missed out on the World Cup squad, his curve has continued to go upwards since thanks to a strong performance in the Caribbean in June and perhaps a defining knock yesterday.

He is in the Test squad for the tour to Australia and along with Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane forms a quartet of immensely promising young Indian batsmen.

Monday, November 28, 2011

As India stumbled from heavy defeat to even heavier defeat during a traumatic summer in England one thing seemed very clear: the bowling cupboard was emptier than the contents of Wayne Rooney's head.

With Zaheer Khan injured, Harbhajan way past his best and Ishant Sharma even more inconsistent than usual, it was left to the wholehearted but lacking in pace Praveen Kumar to lead the attack.

But after three Tests against an improving but brittle West Indies despair has turned into optimism as suddenly the cupboard is filling up faster than the supermarket shelves at Waitrose ahead of Christmas.

Harbhajan has finally been put out to pasture and Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha collected 42 wickets at 23 between them in the three Tests against the boys from the Caribbean.

They've also discovered that rariry of rarities in a country of over a billion souls - not one but two promising fast bowlers. The emergence of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron means that the likes of Sreesanth and Munaf Patel will be able to concentrate on the IPL and that RP Singh can return to the beach from whence he was summoned during the English expedition.

With Praveen returning from a well-earned rest, Zaheer (hopefully) from injury and Ishant fired up by the prospect of finishing Ricky Ponting's Test career, India suddenly look a different proposition.

The series against a transitional Australia under its new regime looks a thrilling prospect.

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